Ministerial Foreword

This consultation marks another important step in our journey
towards delivering a Scottish social security system in line with
the vision and principles set out in
A New Future for Social Security in Scotland. It also
represents the next stage in our work to ensure that the people
closest to, and most impacted by, the devolution of social security
powers have the opportunity to make their views known.

Every day, I'm conscious that we are laying foundations for the
future. What we're doing right now, by establishing a social
security system that will deliver our vision -
that social security is important to all of us and able to
support each of us, when we need it - won't just be
important to the 1.4 million people who currently receive support
from the benefits which will be devolved to Scotland; it will be
important to communities, families and people in Scotland for
generations to come.

These are exciting times, presenting a real opportunity to make
a lasting difference to the lives of people across Scotland. I am
delighted to play my part in delivering the promises that were made
before this year's Holyrood elections. We are making strides in our
work to increase Carer's Allowance, to expand maternity grants into
a new Best Start Grant, and to tackle funeral poverty. And, partly
as a result of this consultation, I am confident there will be a
social security bill, before the end of the first year of this new
Parliament.

I believe there are two things we must get right, as we begin to
build our new, Scottish social security system. First, we must
start as we mean to go on, by putting our principles at the heart
of all that we do. Second, we must get off on the right foot - by
taking the time to ensure that we have the right systems and people
and processes in place to ensure continuity, making absolutely
certain that everyone who currently receives the benefits being
devolved - especially our carers and our disabled people - has
their benefit transferred safely across to the new system.

We must also remember that the
UK Government will remain
responsible for 85% of benefit spend in Scotland, including
benefits for pensioners and those seeking employment. So, while the
Scottish Government believes that Scotland's citizens would be best
protected if social security was fully devolved to the Scottish
Parliament, both we and the
UK Government have a duty
to work together to deliver in the best interests of the people of
Scotland.

We will only get one chance to do things for the first time and
I am clear that the first time we exercise our new devolved powers
will set the standard for all that follows.

If this means taking a little longer to get things right, then
that is a balance that may have to be struck. It's more important
to ensure that no-one falls through the gaps and that everyone is
paid the money they need, at the right amount and when they need
it. The Scottish Government has a steep learning curve in front of
us, when it comes to social security, but with the help of
Scotland's community of advisers, practitioners, public service
professionals, representative groups and users, then I am confident
that we will meet the challenges ahead.

This consultation is not just a listening exercise. As well as
the extensive programme of events we are planning during the summer
and into the autumn, to talk about this consultation, there will be
opportunities over the months to come for us to provide further
updates on what we're doing and the progress we're making. There is
an enormous amount of other work going on, for example, to assess
the options for delivery of our Scottish social security system.
So, we will use these events as well as all of our other channels,
to update you as we go along.

In taking forward this consultation, we will be open and
inclusive and will welcome the views of those who will be affected
the most. We will implement these new powers carefully and
thoughtfully, taking the views of experts, practitioners and users
into account. My firm belief is, the more people that are involved,
the better the final outcome will be - so I hope that, over the
coming months, as many of you as possible will join in and give us
the benefit of your insights, your experience and your views.